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Hiring practices that discriminate against ethnic minorities have continued in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), according to Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) monitoring of job recruiting announcements from the past year. The CECC found employment advertisements posted on government Web sites that reserved positions for Han Chinese in civil servant posts, state-owned enterprises, and private posts, indicating direct government involvement in discriminatory practices, as well as implicit government endorsement of and failure to prevent discriminatory practices in private hiring. The practices contravene provisions in the PRC Constitution and in Chinese laws that forbid discrimination. See, for example, Article 4 of the Constitution and Article 9 of the Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law (REAL), both of which forbid discrimination based on ethnicity. Article 12 of the Labor Law and Article 3 of the Employment Promotion Law state that job applicants shall not face discrimination in job hiring based on factors including ethnicity, and Article 28 of the Employment Promotion Law states that all ethnicities enjoy equal labor rights. Within this framework of non-discrimination, Article 14 of the Labor Law allows for separate legal stipulations to govern the hiring of ethnic minorities, and Article 28 of the Employment Promotion Law says that employing units shall give appropriate consideration to ethnic minority workers in job hiring. In addition, Article 22 of the REAL provides that ethnic autonomous government agencies shall give appropriate consideration to ethnic minorities in job hiring. Article 28 of the Implementing Provisions for the REAL also provides that ethnic autonomous areas give appropriate consideration to ethnic minorities in the job hiring process for government positions and includes provisions for their participation in higher levels of government.

Hiring practices that discriminate against ethnic minorities have continued in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), according to Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) monitoring of job recruiting announcements from the past year. The CECC found employment advertisements posted on government Web sites that reserved positions for Han Chinese in civil servant posts, state-owned enterprises, and private posts, indicating direct government involvement in discriminatory practices, as well as implicit government endorsement of and failure to prevent discriminatory practices in private hiring. The practices contravene provisions in the PRC Constitution and in Chinese laws that forbid discrimination. See, for example, Article 4 of the Constitution and Article 9 of the Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law (REAL), both of which forbid discrimination based on ethnicity. Article 12 of the Labor Law and Article 3 of the Employment Promotion Law state that job applicants shall not face discrimination in job hiring based on factors including ethnicity, and Article 28 of the Employment Promotion Law states that all ethnicities enjoy equal labor rights. Within this framework of non-discrimination, Article 14 of the Labor Law allows for separate legal stipulations to govern the hiring of ethnic minorities, and Article 28 of the Employment Promotion Law says that employing units shall give appropriate consideration to ethnic minority workers in job hiring. In addition, Article 22 of the REAL provides that ethnic autonomous government agencies shall give appropriate consideration to ethnic minorities in job hiring. Article 28 of the Implementing Provisions for the REAL also provides that ethnic autonomous areas give appropriate consideration to ethnic minorities in the job hiring process for government positions and includes provisions for their participation in higher levels of government.

The job recruitment programs observed by the CECC continue a trend in discriminatory hiring practices in the XUAR reported by the Commission in 2006 and 2005. Recent recruitment programs include:

Four schools recruiting teachers within the Shihezi municipal education system have reserved all open positions exclusively for Han Chinese, and one school has reserved three of four open positions exclusively for Han Chinese, according to a job announcement issued January 24, 2009, by the Shihezi 8th Division Personnel Bureau, available as a download from the Shihezi Education Net and online from a page posted January 28 by the Shihezi Number 10 Middle School. In total, the positions form 17 of 69 open positions available in schools within the Shihezi education system. The remaining 52 slots are specified as unrestricted by ethnicity and thus are open to applicants of all ethnic groups including Han. On February 6, the Shihezi Personnel Bureau amended the announcement to remove two other hiring restrictions in the job recruitment, according to a February 10 Xinjiang Daily report, but left the restrictions on ethnicity in place.

Jing (Jinghe) township, in Jing (Jinghe) county, Bayingol Mongol Autonomous Prefecture (XUAR), has advertised 11 open community public welfare positions, 6 of which are reserved for Han Chinese, 1 for an ethnic Uyghur, 2 for ethnic Kazakhs, and 2 for ethnic Mongols, according to a January 16 announcement posted January 21 on the Jing county government Web site. The announcement specifies that ethnic groups including Hui, Manchu, Xibo, and Zhuang may apply for the positions open to Han Chinese.

The Turpan District Tobacco Monopoly Branch Office is recruiting for two positions, both reserved for Han Chinese, according to an announcement posted January 14 on the XUAR Personnel Department Web site.

A mining company advertised only for Han Chinese to fill 18 open positions, according to a September 16, 2008, job announcement posted the following day on the Koktoqay (Fuyun) county government, Altay district, Web site.

A new store advertised for 30 employees, specifying that 20 positions were for Han Chinese and 10 for ethnic minorities, according to a September 4 announcement posted on the Jing county government Web site.

Job openings publicized as part of government-organized job recruiting activities in Jing county included 17 positions explicitly reserved for Han Chinese, according to a May 16 announcement on the Jing county government Web site. (See also a May 12 description of the job recruiting activities posted May 15 on the same Web site.) Descriptions of the remaining 100-plus positions either did not mention ethnicity or specified that there were no restrictions based on ethnicity. Employers listed appeared to include private employers alongside state-owned enterprises.

The Aqsu District (XUAR) Human Resources Department visited the Xi'an Jiaotong University in Shaanxi province to recruit personnel for jobs in Aqsu hospitals and an agricultural technology center, reserving 18 of 43 positions for Han Chinese, according to an April 16 posting on the Xi'an Jiaotong University Web site. The Aqsu District Human Resources Department job announcement specified the remaining slots as unrestricted by ethnicity, thereby leaving them open to applicants of all ethnic groups including Han.

The discriminatory recruitment falls among other labor policies and practices in the XUAR that also restrict the job prospects of ethnic minorities. For example, measures to promote Mandarin-focused "bilingual" education in XUAR schools have resulted in language requirements that disadvantage ethnic minority teachers. Such job hiring and labor practices are part of broader policies in the region that also restrict ethnic minority rights. For additional information, see Section IV--Xinjiang in the CECC 2008 Annual Report.